The Long-Term Psychological Impact of Ethnic Tension in Adolescents of the Solomon Islands / 国際保健医療

ABSTRACT

<b>Objective</b><br>The purpose of this study was to assess the psychological impact and associated factors in adolescents 5 years after the ethnic tension in the Solomon Islands. <br><b>Methods</b><br>In total, 199 high school students and villagers from Guadalcanal province and Malaita province participated in this study. To examine the psychological impact of the ethnic tension, a semi-structured interview was performed using a questionnaire and the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R) for posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) symptoms. The participants were divided into three groups according to the places (A, B, C) where the participants lived at the beginning of the ethnic tension. <br><b>Results</b><br>Recalled emotions of traumatic experiences were significantly more severe in the most affected areas (group A, B). Although previous studies showed females are more emotionally impacted than males in disaster, the emotional impact was significantly more frequent in males than females in this study. Especially, the IES-R score was significantly higher in males of group A. No differences were found in the IES-R scores among the three groups; A 33.4, B 30.0, C 34.5. The adolescents in this study had higher IES-R scores.<br><b>Conclusions</b><br>This study indicates that the PTSD symptoms of the adolescents have persisted for 5 years after the ethnic tension in the Solomon Islands.